Attolia
Attolia is the most coastal of the three countries of the Queen's Thief series, lying southeast of the mountain country of Eddis. It is ruled by Attolia Irene and Eugenides, the former Thief of Eddis. Attolia is a feudal society, in which both okloi (who do not own land) and patronoi (who do) pay taxes and owe some level of allegiance to barons. Trade Attolia has some of the most fertile land in the three countries. Its best farmland is at the mouth of the Aracthus River, where minerals from the dystopia have been carried down from the mountains of Eddis. Attolia trades in wheat, olives, and wine, along with other agricultural products, with both Eddis and Sounis. All trade to Sounis needs to move through the Pass of Eddis. Politics At the beginning of The Thief, the queen has ruled Attolia alone for some years by using ruthless tactics and placing a series of limits on the barons' authority. Most notably, the queen enlarged the size of the Queen's Guard, allowed talented okloi to rise through its ranks, and made the Guard the central part of the army, loyal to her rather than the barons. However, few barons support the queen and the country is unstable. Attolia has a longstanding rivalry with the kingdom of Sounis, with both attempting throughout the years to gain control of the Little Peninsula. This rivalry, however, is limited due to the land-separation provided by the mountain country of Eddis, which strives to maintain neutrality. There are a number of islands off the coast of the Little Peninsula that have been the setting for this rivalry, changing hands between Attolia and Sounis several times throughout the years. After Attolia chops off Eugenides's hand, however, the queen of Eddis seizes Attolian caravans as compensation and, by refusing to back down, ends the Eddisian policy of neutrality. Initially, Attolia allies with Sounis, but the alliance is broken when Eugenides frames Attolia for the burning of Sounis's navy, and the war is split three ways. With no army able to make it through the mountain pass of Eddis, Attolia and Sounis once again battle for control of offshore islands, in battles such as the Battle of Thegmis. Throughout the war, Attolia considers the possibility of allying with the Mede, in the hopes that Mede gold (and potentially their troops) might help her manage the instability in her own kingdom, and later her war against the Sounisians and Eddisians. Nahuseresh, in response to her hints, gives Attolia a large amount of gold, but also seeks to undermine her power by deploying Mede troops without the queen's request and executing several of her few loyal barons. To remove the Mede, the queen agrees to a treaty with Eddis, cemented by the marriage between the queen and Eugenides, the Thief of Eddis, and form an alliance against the Mede Empire. While the new king is not well-received by the barons, who perceive him to be a foreigner who has usurped the throne, his status as outsider is advantageous to the queen. His neutral standpoint to the politics of Attolia prevent the barons from contesting amongst themselves for the queen's power and unite against the greater threat of the Mede Empire. Although the war with Eddis is over, Attolia never declares a formal peace with Sounis, as the Sounisian civil war temporarily ousts the king from the throne. When Sophos arrives in Attolia, Eugenides and the queen agree to provide him with troops to end the civil war, provided that he swear allegiance to Attolia. Sophos agrees, and his subsequent marriage to the queen of Eddis ensures that Attolia, led by Eugenides, becomes the dominant power of the Little Peninsula. Landmarks *Dystopia *Capital of Attolia *Sea of Olives Category:Places Category:Attolia